Geography of Ukraine

Authorities rushed to rescue hundreds of people stranded on rooftops and supply drinking water to areas flooded by a collapsed dam in southern Ukraine on Wednesday, in a growing humanitarian and ecological disaster along a river that forms part of the front line in the 15-month war.

Day 469 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

Western officials, as well as Ukraine, accuse Russian forces of building the Kakhovka dam, while official Moscow claims that Ukraine is responsible for it, that is, it is a matter of sabotage. In the meantime, thousands of people have been evacuated, and the stability of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, Zaporizhzhia, is also under question.

Ukraine was evacuating thousands of people Wednesday after an attack on a major Russian-held dam unleashed a torrent of water, inundating two dozen villages and sparking fears of a humanitarian disaster.

Ukraine on Tuesday accused Russian forces of blowing up a major dam and hydroelectric power station in a part of southern Ukraine they control, threatening a massive flood that could displace hundreds of thousands of people, and ordered residents downriver to evacuate.

Day 468 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

Kateryna Yakymowych, 38, Irpin

At the time of speaking to BIRN on May 23, Kateryna was excitedly waiting to fly to Rome the next day to see her five-year-old daughter. This would be only the third time in over a year when the mother and daughter got to see one another.

General Richard Barrons, the former commander of the Joint Forces Command, told Sky News that Moscow had to move its "precious human resources" to stop Ukrainian forces north and south of the city.

Although Russia claims it has won control of Ukraine's eastern city of Bakhmut, after a grinding nine-month conflict in which tens of thousands of fighters have died, top Ukrainian military leaders say the battle is not over.

Ukrainian officials acknowledge they now control only a small part of Bakhmut.

The head of the Wagner mercenary group said on Sunday that Russia had promised his fighters enough ammunition to stay in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, after threatening to pull out in scathing videos.

Rivalries between Yevgeny Prigozhin and the conventional army had boiled over during the battle for the now-devastated flashpoint, where Wagner is leading the assault.